…re: the Tigers. Tonight’s game is huge, obviously. During the Yankee glory days from 1996-2001, I used to tell Yankee haters there was no good reason to hate the Yankees–the team was mostly built on home-grown talent and trades, stocked with good, hard-nosed players like O’Neill and Brosius. Now, the Yankee haters really have reason to hate the Yanks for the sheer excess of their line-up. Every guy could hit third or fourth in a normal line-up. As Leyland has put it, “Murder’s Row and Cano.” But in the play-offs it’s pitching that matters most (defense is important too), and that’s why the Yanks are still vulnerable. If they lose, the awesomeness of their line-up will only add to the Yankee hater’s delight. I’ll be watching with white-knuckles, and hoping Randy Johnson doesn’t go all Kevin Brown on us tonight.